Yesterday I learned about carb cycling, where you eat low carb two days a week and then eat normally (healthy/balanced/higher carb) the rest of the week. Many people seem to find it works -- and unlike straight low-carb diets, it does sound like something you could do without messing up your body's nutritional balance.

I haven't heard of it, but it sounds like it might work. I am doing lower-ish carbs, with no counting involved and I am pleased with the results. Avoiding sugar except in my coffee, not basing meals around a starch (helps that DH is wheat free) except my morning oatmeal. If I am hungry I eat protein, veggies and some fat, if I am just wanting to eat I eat veggies. Sunday is a big restaurant lunch (with fries!). Every night we have a square of good chocolate with our glass of wine. Never hungry, never feel deprived. If something that looks irresistible jumps in front of me I have a taste. If it is amazing, I may have 2 or even 3. I have discovered that, after the third bite, I don't really taste much anyway.

When people ask, I just say I am eating more veggies, and they are asking, because I have lost 2" at least around hips, waist and bust. Thankfully no loss of height!

I am looking forward to reading more on this post.

------http://bgballroom.wordpress.com to follow the progress on my next ballgown.

Thanks for posting that article! The one I read yesterday was in Woman's World magazine, so a bit more newstand-y, if you see what I mean (a different diet miracle every month, lol). But the article you've posted seems to confirm my instinct that this isn't just hype. Here's an encouraging excerpt from your article:

Quote: Good news for dieters who feel that counting calories has become a full-time job. According to new research, you might do better to cut carbs just two days a week instead of going low cal every day.

In a recent study, presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, British researchers found that women who eliminated carbohydrate-rich foods like bread, pasta, potatoes and rice two days a week and ate their normal diet the rest of the time lost an average of 9 lb. over four months. Meanwhile, women in a similar group who ate a 1,500-cal.-per-day Mediterranean-style diet for the same time period lost only 5 lb.

Women on the intermittent diet not only lost more weight but also showed greater improvements on other markers of health, including levels of insulin and leptin.

From what I read this morning to try to find out more, apparently what helps most is the switching from low carb to normal carb -- somehow it tricks your brain into NOT turning your metabolism down, which is what happens when you go on a "diet."

(I crash dieted at 13 and spent the rest of my teenage/young adult years maintaining the weight loss by eating 1000-1200 calories a day... I'm sure this didn't do my metabolism any good.)

Yes, I had forgotten that most veggies are fine on a low-carb diet and most fruits are really not. I couldn't stay on a normal low-carb diet anymore -- I love fruit too much! Skipping the obvious starchy foods isn't as hard for me, but breakfast is a tricky one. About 80% of my standard breakfast foods are carb-based (cereal, toast, English muffins...). But woo hoo, maybe I'll have CHEESE instead.

I've just started this today and will be trying to stick with Thurs.-Fri. as low-carb days. I'll let you know how it goes.

Joan,
I don't know if you have ever checked out a low glycemic diet. In many ways it is like a low carb diet, but different again. It is based on eating food that doesn't trigger a lot of insulin.

With this diet many fruits are allowed, like berries, applies, pears, cherries, tangerines & others. It is more the tropical fruits like pineapple & the such that are higher glycemic.

Also lentils & beans tend to be fine, but not generally the starchy foods like potatoes, corn & rice. With grains, it depends on the grain & how it is treated.

For breads and that type of food, if you can find sprouted grain bread like Ezekiel bread, that is low glycemic. Multi-grain bread, that is whole grain, is lower glycemic than all whole wheat bread, as is sour dough bread. While I working on losing weight I'm only eating the Ezekiel bread products.

I started this diet mid Jan & have lost 20 pounds, but need to lose a fair amount more. I like this diet better than low carb that I had done some years ago.

My son was on a low glycemic diet, I think -- not that he needed to lose weight, but he was trying to get fitter and slimmer and have more energy.

I'm not interested in the traditional low-carb diet -- if today is any example, it would drive me crazy. I love variety. Also, a true low-carb diet just doesn't seem to respect the way we're made -- complex carbohydrates are our main fuel.

I'm going to try this tactic for a while and see what happens. I just started today, after all. You're apparently supposed to do it for two consecutive days, so I'll continue tomorrow and then switch to Thurs.-Fri. next week. I don't want to normally be doing this on weekends, in case people come over or something.

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